Horse riding by in very low light

I finished my second round of intensive chemo today which only took three days instead of four, because they were able to double up on some of the treatments and push them through much more quickly since I didn't react to any of the drugs they gave me. At the end of the treatment, the nurse attached a Neulasta® delivery system to my stomach that will inject the drug tomorrow afternoon 27 hours after the chemo was finished. Nuelasta® is a long-term immune system enhancer that will make my bones create extra white blood cells over the next 14 days to help keep my counts up.  I will have another PET scan on the 8th of July and then go in on the 11th to see the results. If I'm in remission on the 11th we'll start the process to harvest stem cells, if not, I will have to do another round of chemo like I did this week. We're looking forward to remission, though.

Well after sunset you can see the insects the hummingbird is eating.

A beetle scurrying along in the time between dusk and dark.

Hey Spunk! What do you think?

I have now joined the rank of my favorite local celebrity "The Hoff", co-anchor on the "Erica Viking and The Hoff" morning show on KIOT 102.5 FM. I get a lot of entertainment on my commute to work from the morning show. The Hoff and I have also crossed paths at a few events I photographed and while they were doing remote shows — The Hoff was part of the fashion show at Gears and Glamour. 

One of my favorite Italian celebrities is J-AX, and I got the idea of tattooing my head while I'm bald from J-AX. Check out his music video J-AX feat. IL CILE - MARIA SALVADOR (OFFICIAL VIDEO) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrtpl9aDDrk.

Look Spunk no hair

Like what happened dude?

What do you think of this tattoo?

You're killing man!

How about a smoking kitty?

Please STOP!

Strawberry Moon rising over the Sandias and reflecting on the Rio Grande

A Strawberry Moon is full moon on Solstice, a rare event that happened today, June 20, 2016. A Honey Moon is a full moon on the longest day there is a full moon, which happens in June, rarely on Solstice but more often on a Friday the 13th in June.

I started my second round of chemo today, and after I got home I noticed my face felt like it had a thousand little spiders crawling on it. When I felt for the spiders, I realized crawling feeling was associated with my beard, and if I pulled on my beard, the hair would simply come out. I shaved off my beard, but the razor didn't cut the hair, it pulled it out, which made for weird shaving, and I ended up with a very close shave, and soft, smooth face.  My blue hair is starting to come out as well.

The new schedule for chemo is to finish this week, get a PET scan the week of July 4th to see if I'm in remission. If I am they will start the process to harvest stem cells, if not, I do another round of chemo starting the July 11th. The process to harvest stem cells is to get a catheter with stem cell collector installed in my chest. Get 5 days of Neupogen® shots to stimulate the bone marrow, and collect almost all of my stem cells, which is really the same volume of my stem cells. They will freeze my stem cells the preserve them while I continue the process.  

After recovering for a couple of weeks, I'll be admitted into the hospital, have another round of intensive chemo to kill my bone marrow, and then have them replace dead bone marrow with the stem cells they took a few weeks before. I will be in the hospital two or three weeks, depending on how I react to the treatment. I'm calculating the stem cell replacement will be about six weeks from start to finish.

The glow

The tip of the Strawberry Moon

Strawberry Moon rising

Strawberry Moon

It was 105º when I left for the Cancer Center to get a Neupogen® shot

Summer snow under an almost full moon

It was 99º in the shade of a tree when I left the Cancer Center to go by the office

Grasshopper on a black hollyhock

It was 100º in the alley behind the office when I headed home

Bee working a columbine

It was 102º when I drove up on our mulched driveway

Herzogii — Floral forest of Cosmos herzogii

I've been Holding Da Reins all week long while working, cat herding, blogging and helping Laurie and Tristan get ready to present papers at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Medieval & Renaissance Association held at UNM this year. In the meantime, my immune system went south and my health insurance had a bout of temporary insanity putting the approval of Neupogen® shots to help rebuild my immune system under consideration for approval, which put off my first shot for a half a day while we spent time tracking down an insurance rep who could help expedite the "consideration" process. As I told the insurance rep that finally called back, of all the procedures and medications I have received and will receive, Neupogen® shots should never be put "under consideration" for approval. Other than that, I got a full week in at the office, and have had plenty of energy.

I will start the second round of chemo on 06/20/16, which is Solstice, the Strawberry Moon (full moon), 42†, and yet another day for the world to end.  In case you missed it, the world was supposed to heat up and spontaneously combust on 06/06/16 from global warming. 06/06/16 was also the day of the Antichrist. I thought 06/16/16 would be another "end of the world" date, but I didn't find anything catastrophic mentioned; however, the number sequence also fits the sign of the beast — the square root of 38 (6+16+16) is 6.16, and 616 is another sign for the beast depending on how one translates Revelations. I was disappointed that 06/16/16 seemed to have no more relevance to apocalypticism than my imagination.

†6+20+16=42. 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.

Dove —  what's left of a lonesome dove

Rosencrantz emerging from a catnip forest

Ladybugs on white, white lilies and hummingbird gymnastics.

Gnats and smoke in the low sun

There is a large fire burning in the Manzanos south and east of Albuquerque. The smoke blew in and hung in the sky above us making an interesting night sky lit up by the moon above and the city below.

I've worked three full days at the office this week so far, and had pretty good energy each day. I go in first thing in the morning for labs to see how my immune system is holding up. The doctor is afraid it will tank before Monday, making it so I can't start round two of chemo. So I will probably get a booster tomorrow just to make sure I have an immune system on Monday.

I've designed a new sit/stand desk for one of our staff who doesn't need the large changes in height between sitting and standing, so I'm using an extra motor from an enlarger chassis, and scissor jacks to make a different style of motorized desktop. The problem is I've had a terrible time finding the parts I need in town. I wanted to build it without ordering parts on-line, but local stores just don't carry the things I need, so type of pulleys I want (the main components in the design) are all special order at local stores — it's so impossible to buy local!

I was able to irrigate but I had to be out in the smoke (smoke really bothers me), but then, since I had to be out in the smoke anyway to irrigate, I figured I might as well do double duty and get smoke photos at sunset and after dark.

Soft pink on the Sandias before the smoke got thicker

Thick plume of smoke to the east over the Sandias after sunset

Waves of smoke in the moonlight. Mars on the left side of the moon, Jupiter on the right of the smoke (camera is handheld).

Panorama of the moonlit smoke in the sky (camera is handheld).

Parc de sceaux bride by Marina Peters-Newell, Ph.D.Marina Peters-Newell, Ph.D.

Parc de sceaux bride by Marina Peters-Newell, Ph.D. ©2016

Anyone who studied photography and art during the last third of the 20th Century has probably heard of Henri Cartier Bresson and most likely familiar with some, if not all, of the photographs from his book “Images à la sauvette” fist published in 1952. The English version is titled “The Decisive Moment”, which became an artist movement to capture photographs in the moment (normally on 35mmm film) that were aesthetically well beyond “snapshots” but generally less formal than images produced with large and medium format cameras. Snapping photos in “The Decisive Moment” still produced studied, technically proficient and well composed images that had something to say either as pure art, social commentary or both.

In a series of emails about the bridge photo I posted the other night, Marina included today’s photo in one of the emails with the following explanation: 

“I have attached a pic I took in the park across the street from where we lived in Paris (the parc de Sceaux).  I was returning through the park from a shopping trip in Sceaux, when I saw this bride having her photo taken in one of the gardens.  So I snapped this pic.”

My response to the photo started an interesting exchange.

Timothy:  
“Wow! Just Wow! That is a fantastic photo on all levels of subject, art, artistry, composition, color, repeating forms, layers. Keep close tabs on this one, Marina, there are lots of people who would steel it, and call it their own.”

Marina:  
“Ha!  methinks the compliments aboundeth beyond what the photographer deserveth.  But I like it too :)”

Timothy:
“Seriously, Marina, not at all beyond what you deserve. It really is a fantastic photo. You saw it and you got it. Cartier Bresson’s “Decisive Moment” perfectly executed.”

Marina saw the image was worth photographing, photographed it and produced a superb image that meets all the requirements of art, composition and commentary. The white tulips repeat the color and shape of the bride’s dress; there are layers of repeating colors, shapes and forms; the composition is almost a perfect “rule of thirds”, with the bride’s triangular form falling square inside the “golden rectangle”. A bride, as well groomed and traditional as the Parisian garden, posing for wedding pictures seems so counterculture to the modern tastes that often look askance at marriage — Marina has perfectly executed “The Decisive Moment”. 

Marina Peters-Newell, Ph.D. is the Lower-division Language Coordinator for the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures
at the University of New Mexico. Marina is a long-time friend. She and Laurie are members of a book group (the group met at our house last week), and we have participated in cultural events she has hosted as part of Language Department at UNM for many years.

Watching the sunset

Frolicking in the pollen

Whispering in a lamb's ear

Carrying babies on her abdomen

"Stop!"

After a rather short night with lots of trips to the bathroom, I finally woke up, dragged myself out of bed, fluffed the blue hair upon on my head, walked out to the kitchen and made a cup, then finally got around to pulling on a pair of combat boots in anticipation of continuing my weekend warring on weeds.  

I uncovered the birds to feed and water them, and when Søren saw me in combat boots he yelled “STOP!” and Beaker yelled “Squawk!” After I finished with the birds, Rosencrantz started ragging on me and said as much as “Listen to the bird!”  Apparently, they thought I was doing too much and needed to take it easy. 

I had fully planned to crash on Saturday, even planning a post called “Feeling Kinda Sleepy Now!” with photos of a Tse Tse Fly biting me for when I crashed — however, I never really crashed. On the other hand, I couldn’t resist laying around with Rosencrantz between dragging hoses around, a little organizing here and there, photographing the garden and helping Laurie prepare dinner for her book group. I did leave the weeds to add to their ranks — I’ll have to see how battle ready I will be next weekend.

"Squawk!"

"Listen to the bird!"

Lounging in combat boots with Rosencrantz on my lap.

Tse Tes Fly

"My energy is draining
Touching down on my arm
I'm feeling kinda sleepy now

I was bitten by a tse-tse fly"

"Tse Tse Fly" by Wall of Voodoo

The double hollyhock (above) looks a lot like Camisole (below)

Veteran's Honor

Betty Boop as a bleach blonde

I was supposed to crash today, but it didn't happen; therefore, we worked on food prep, the yard, watering, cat herding and visiting all day and late into the night. The Tiger Lilies are blooming.

Tristan and Jamie have been pestering me for months to let them dye my hair blue. Since my hair will surely fall out from the chemo, I agreed to let them dye it blue. It doesn't look too bad, as you can see from the selfies I did in different states of blueness. Check out Eiffel 65 Blue video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ugkg9RePc

After Tristan and Jaimie finished making me blue, I had to go out and get cat food, I ran through the grocery store to pick up a few things, and then I stopped by the post office and got mail. Most mail these days are statements of benefits and bills from medical providers. With all the different providers, I noticed the insurance is having a hard time keeping everything straight according to my bookkeeping. I noticed the last big bill I paid put me over what is supposed to be the max I pay out-of-pocket. But then I got another huge bill in the mail today that would now put my out-of-pocket almost $4k over the max. I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get my accounting and the insurance's accounting to match, but we were not able to reconcile our accounts, and the insurance agent said he showed no record of then bill I was holding in my hand as a claim. The agent finally told me the provider must have billed me directly and I needed to call the provider. The person I had on the phone had no idea who I needed to call, so I told him I'd figure it out, hung up, and found another number to try.  I finally got to a person who seemed vaguely familiar with the large bill I was holding in my hand, and after several "hold on a minutes" she came back and told me it looked like I was right, I'd already over paid my out-of-pocket and that I should get a refund. A Refund? Now that's more like it!

Spunky chicken mohawk

Electric blue in the sunshine

Tin foil cap 

Still wet and wild

Prep for the second round of dye

Jamie, Tristan and me — three shades of blue